Pinky Swear?
by UbiquitousPhantom
Summary: Years ago, Alice met Hatter by chance--on her favorite swing set. Nearly 14 years later, she finds out that the pinky promise they made has been kept all this time. AlicexHatter. ONESHOT!


_**Pinky Swear?**_

_Summary: Years ago, Alice met Hatter by chance--on her favorite swing set. Nearly 14 years later, she finds out that the pinky promise they made has been kept all this time. AlicexHatter. ONESHOT!_

_**Disclaimer: **__Oh believe me. I wish to God it was mine._

_**AN:**__ So, in order for this to semi-work, I had to make adult-Alice about 23 years old. Young Alice is about 8 years old. Also, let's ignore the fact that Alice and her mother moved to an apartment after her father's disappearance. Let's just say they kept their house, yeah? And, one more fact to ignore: The time difference._

_Ahhhh, sorry. Couldn't resist. I just _love_ this pairing. Alice and Hatter are just PERFECT for each other! Who else thinks so? I think so. And Hatter. My GOD. How could she RESIST him when she first met him!? Any ideas? Any at all? I mean… I would have pounced. XD_

_REVISED; Should be no more mistakes._

_**XxXxXxXxX**_

Young Alice Hamilton, age eight, was swinging when she met the strange boy. She had on her favorite blue dress and favorite black shoes (even though they pinched her toes a little), which made it a bit difficult to swing, but she was determined to get as high as she could.

When she was swinging, it felt as if she was flying, and flying is what Alice wanted to learn to do. To be a bird, and get away from mommy and daddy. Especially when they made her clean her room. She hated cleaning her room. When she made it messy, it was because she wanted it messy.

The playground was empty when Alice got there, which made her very happy. Usually when she was there, other kids were there and they'd steal the swings, which was Alice's favorite thing. But, it was empty, which made her happy. So, she skipped over to it, humming a made up song, got on, and started swinging.

She was there perhaps ten minutes, just swinging for fun, when she decided that she was going to swing as high as she could. Break a record, she decided. Maybe the world record! Maybe, she could swing high enough that she could go _over_ the bar! That would be _amazing_! No one has _ever_ done that before, she didn't think. If she was the first one to do that, then she'd _definitely_ break a record!

Alice was concentrating on her task so hard she didn't realize when a boy about her age came into the playground area.

Only when she stopped swinging her legs and just let herself swing back and forth, giving up on her breaking the world record, did she notice him. He was odd. His smile was big. Almost like that one kitty in the book with her name in it, except not as creepy. His clothes were normal (just jeans and some sort of shirt), but he did have a hat on. And his hair underneath the hat was very messy and probably not as well kept and brushed through as her own hair.

She pursed her lips and started swinging again. "Who're you?"

The boy giggled. "I can see your panties when you bring your legs up like that."

Instantly, Alice's face burnt red. Normally, she wouldn't care, but how the boy said it! It was rude and she didn't like it one bit! She brought her legs down and didn't bring them up again. A hard feat for someone who wanted to swing.

"You never answered my question," Alice accused, keeping her eyes down.

"I'm… well, I have two names. My daddy says when I'm here, I should say I'm David. But I'm really Hatter," the boy said, looking around nervously, as if his daddy was going to come after him.

"Hatter? What kind of stupid name is Hatter?" Alice asked. Hatter? That _was_ a stupid name.

"And what's your name?" The boy asked defensively. "As if it's any better!"

"Alice," she said, sticking her nose up.

The boy's--well… Hatter's--eyebrows rose. "Alice? Of Legend?"

"What're you talking about?" She asked. The boy made no sense. Boy's are stupid, she decided. And she wouldn't ever need one.

Hatter shook his head. "Nothin'."

"Why do you have a funny voice?" Alice's swinging, since she had stopped moving her legs, had ceased, and was now drawing pictures in the sand with her feet under the swing.

"I don't have a funny voice! You do!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Yuh-uh!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Yes-uh!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Yes-uh! Stop lying! I'm telling mommy on you!" Alice jumped up and ran back to her house, very confused by the odd boy.

"Tell tale!" The boy yelled as she ran off.

_XxXxXxXxX_

The next day, David was at the playground when Alice got there. On the swings. On _her _swings. When she saw him, she stopped. "What're you doing here?"

"Swinging."

"Get off. I want to swing," Alice commanded.

"No. I'm swinging. You got to swing yesterday. Today's my turn."

"I don't care," Alice said stubbornly. "I want to swing. Give it here!"

"No!"

Alice glared at the boy (still, with his weird hat on his head) for a moment, bent down and picked up a handful of sand. She walked over to him, and when he swung near her, she threw the sand in his face.

"Hey!" He yelled, stopped the swing and rubbing his eyes.

With this distraction, Alice pushed the boy off and climbed on herself. "Ha," she said. "You snooze you lose. That's what you get for being a jerk."

The boy glared back at her. "Meanie."

_XxXxXxXxX_

Over the next three weeks this happened. Alice would go to her playground and no one would be there, except the boy. Hatter. Or David. Whatever his name was. At first, she was annoyed that he was there. It was _her_ space. Her space and no one else's--except, of course, when the big kids were there. They would fight over the swing, the merry-go-round or even the slide.

However, as time went on, she began to look forward to it. Every day, more and more eager to go outside after lunch time. Every time mommy or daddy would ask her if she's got "ants in her pants", whatever that meant, she shook her head and would just say she wanted to go outside and play. They'd let her, of course.

So, with a happy smile on her face, Alice ran to the playground to meet David. His other name, Hatter. It didn't make too much sense. Sure, he wore hats, but that was pretty much it… it was just too weird for Alice, so she stuck with David.

When she got to the playground, David was there, on the swing.

"David!" She called, waving merrily.

He looked up and smiled happily, but the happiness didn't last too long. Something was wrong, she could see it in his face. His smile wasn't a real smile. He was sad.

"What's a matter?" She asked when she got close enough to talk.

"I've got to leave," he said.

Alice cocked her head. "Whaddya mean? Go home?"

David nodded. "Yeah. I'm going back to my home. The one that's far away. Daddy said it's our last day here."

"But… why?"

The boy pouted. "He's done with work, I guess."

"But…" Alice didn't want him to go. She was having fun with him here, playing with her. Even if he did make fun of her and push her down a lot. They played games together and became friends.

"Hatter?"

David looked up, alarmed. "That's my dad. Got to go." He made a dash for the path in the woods, but Alice grabbed his sleeve.

"Wait!"

David tugged his arm from her grip and asked, "what?"

"Promise you won't tease anyone? It's annoying and no one likes it. And don't push anyone down. And don't look up anyone's dresses, either. Come back here," Alice said, "and do all those things. Promise."

The boy looked annoyed and quickly glanced back to the woods. Not hearing his father, he nodded. "Okay, I promise."

"Pinky swear?" Alice asked, holding out her pinky.

Now, for all kids, ages five to eleven, the pinky swear is the major promise. It's the biggest kind of promise a kid could give, and if broken, it meant the worse things in the world. The pinky swear wasn't one to break, for if you did, you could never be trusted again--ever. Both Alice and David knew this.

"Hatter! Where are you?"

"Coming!" He yelled back. He shook his head and looked at Alice. "Only if you promise to be here."

Alice nodded and they twisted their pinky's, saying, "I pinky swear."

And before Alice knew it, her new friend had disappeared.

_XxXxXxXxX_

The playground out by her house was always a place of comfort to Alice. It was where she went when she needed quiet or to just get away. It was always there for her. The older kids who had gone there when she had gone there were grown up and had moved away leaving the playground of memories to herself.

Good memories, most definitely.

Especially about that boy… The boy reminded her of Hatter, from Wonderland. Wonderland. She had just got back from there. Apparently she had only been "gone" for an hour. An hour! A whole hour here was a week there! It didn't make any sense. Why did time move differently in their worlds? How could an hour here mean a week over there?

Sitting in a swing, she leaned back as far as her arms would let her, the warm sun panning on her face, reminiscing. The boy from… what was it? Nearly fourteen years ago? David, right? God, why did that kid from so long ago remind her of Hatter so much?

He shouldn't. Since it was fourteen years ago, and she was sure as time passed, she shaped the memories to fit herself, as everyone did to every memory over time. Maybe it was just the fact that David from so long ago was her first love, of sorts. He was the first one to actually stand up to her and wouldn't let her have the swings when she wanted them right away. He would smile and laugh at all her jokes, in between the making fun and pushing her down. And he embarrassed her so much, too! Too much for one's own good.

Did David remind her of Hatter simply because they both wore hats? Or was it because they had the same smile… the same eyes… the same mannerisms…

Alice shook her head. Obviously being back here was doing things to her. She certainly wasn't thinking of Hatter constantly because she had fallen in love with him. No, not at all. She couldn't have. She was in love with Jack. Well… not so much anymore. She thought she had been. But he wasn't who he said he was. He wasn't Jack Chase. He was Jack Heart.

Hatter though, Hatter was different. Hatter was… Hatter. Sure, he had used her at first, for the resistance. But wasn't she using him, too? To get Jack back? And he was one hundred percent trustworthy. He had proved that over and over, time and time again.

Alice groaned. Boys. Why were they so confusing?

"If you think we're confusin' you should check out you lasses."

Alice sat up suddenly to look at the speaker, not realizing she had spoken out loud. "Hatter…" she whispered. She stood up and stayed there for a few moments. "You're…"

He smiled. "Here."

Alice ran up to him and jumped in his open arms. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you."

Hatter exhaled, whispering, "finally."

They kissed. The kiss was so wonderful, so… fulfilling, that when Hatter pulled away for a breath of fresh air, Alice let out a squeak of disappointment.

"What're you doing here?" She asked. "Not that… not that I'm not glad. I just… what are you doing here?"

Hatter shrugged, and looked to the side. "Charlie, that mad white knight. And Jack, s'prisingly. It took 'em a while, but they convinced me to come after you."

"Charlie?" Alice laughed, unable to believe it. "_And_ Jack?"

"Both of 'em. Charlie called me 'mad as a box of frogs'. Me. Hatter. Mad? Jack called me a stupid idiot." Alice could tell from the expression on his face he didn't agree with the accusation.

"I'm… I am _so_ glad you're here," she said, hugging Hatter tight.

"Yeah, well… I remembered my promise, too."

Alice pulled back slightly, enough to look him in the eyes. "Promise?"

Hatter nodded and looked around. "This exact spot, I think, actually. About… fourteen years ago. The pinky promise."

Alice blinked in shock. What? She didn't realize she said that aloud until he answered it:

"The pinky promise. You made me promise to… let's see." He looked up to his right, trying to remember. "You made me pinky swear not to… tease anyone. Or push anyone. And to not look up anyone's dresses," he said with a small laugh.

Alice shook her head in amazement. He really remembered that.

"There was one more thing you made me promise before I left. Do you 'member?"

She did. She remembered the whole thing. "To come back here and do it…"

Hatter grinned and kissed Alice once more, this time more thoroughly, exploring every crevice of her mouth with his tongue. Putting his forehead against Alice's, he whispered, "Ahhhh, Alice. I've a question."

"Yes, Hatter?" She asked. She couldn't believe that Hatter was here. Here. Not in Wonderland. Here, Earth. With her. Her, Alice.

"Can I look up your dress and see those panties of yours?"

Alice laughed and kissed him once more.

_**XxXxXxXxX**_

_So, for those of you wondering, how the first bit was written, when Alice was eight, is supposed to be that way. Since most kids' minds are everywhere, that's kind of how I made the writing, since she was the "narrator" of it. Hopefully the second part, when she was an adult, was much more on task and focused. XD_

_Don't you think Hatter would have visited Alice's world at least ONCE as a child? I mean… Well. Even if you don't, in order for the story to work, he had to. And I know his dad was kind of an iffy subject, but I used him anyway. I needed to have an excuse to have Hatter there as a kid after all._

_Also, I know that Hatter being David from the beginning wasn't a surprise. It wasn't supposed to be. So, no worries on that. Well, I lied. It _was_ supposed to be a surprise. But, not for the reader. For Alice, mkayy?_

_And, now that it is… 3.30am and I've got this all typed up and put up, I believe I can go to bed peacefully. Thank God. I'm soooo tired. I apologize if this doesn't make any sense because of my ramblings or whatever._

_Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know by leaving a small review, yeah? Thanks a ton!_

_-UbiquitousPhantom-_


End file.
